What are TurboTax’s Up to Five Days Early Refund Delivery options?

TurboTax has two offerings that can get you your federal refund up to 5 days earlier than the IRS would deliver it to you directly.

Up to Five Days Early works by delivering your refund up to 5 days before the IRS is able to deliver funds to your bank account. For example, if the IRS indicates that your refund will arrive in your account within 15 days from the date your tax return was accepted, our Up to Five Days Early service will get your refund to your account within 10–14 days.

You can get your refund deposited in your own bank account for a fee. If the money isn’t delivered at least 1 day early, you won’t be charged a fee for this service.

For most filers, the IRS delivers a refund within 21 days if you select direct deposit as your refund method.

You may be able to receive your federal refund early through your bank, credit union or other financial institution. Terms, fees, and delivery dates may vary. Check with your financial institution for details.

Up to 5 Days Early into your preferred bank account

TurboTax’s Up to 5 Days Early refund delivery gives you the flexibility to have your federal refund deposited into your preferred bank account up to 5 days earlier than the date your refund would have arrived if sent from the IRS directly - for a fee.  You will only be charged a  fee if your refund is delivered at least 1 day early.

TurboTax will email you when your refund is on its way, confirming that it will be delivered to you up to 5 days early and providing you with a breakdown of your refund amount, including any TurboTax fees.

Up to 5 Days Early - Credit Karma Money checking account

When you open and deposit your refund into a Credit Karma Money checking account, your tax refund could be deposited up to 5 days early for no additional cost.

With this option, TurboTax works with Credit Karma and a partner bank to get your account information to the IRS so they can deposit your refund into your account up to five days earlier. You can use the Credit Karma refund tracker to see when your federal refund is expected to hit your account. Learn more about the other features of a Credit Karma Money checking account. 

Eligibility for early refund delivery

With both refund options, there are some situations where you might not be able to receive your refund early. These include not having a sufficient refund amount, IRS delays, or your bank’s policies. However, if you choose Up to 5 Days Early into your preferred bank account, and don’t receive your refund early, you won’t be charged the service fee.                    

When to expect your refund

Once you receive confirmation that your federal return has been accepted, you'll be able to start tracking your refund at the IRS Where's My Refund site. After the IRS accepts your return, a refund typically arrives within about 21 days.

With Up to 5 Days Early to your preferred bank account, you’ll have your federal refund deposited into your account up to 5 days earlier than the standard tax refund electronic deposit from the IRS.

Once the IRS approves your refund, TurboTax will be notified and we’ll attempt to transfer your refund to your bank account. TurboTax will then send you an email letting you know if we were able to successfully deliver your refund early or if we were unable to expedite your refund. If we were successfully able to deliver your refund early, you can expect to see your refund in your bank account the same day you received an email from us.

If we were unable to expedite your refund, your refund will be delivered by the date provided in the IRS Where’s My Refund site and you will not be charged an early refund fee. You will also see a notice that “We could not expedite your refund. No early refund fee was charged” as part of your TurboTax refund tracker.

For more information on how to track your federal refund, see this article.

Why was my Up to 5 Days Early refund unsuccessful?

In order to deliver your refund to you early, the IRS needs to communicate your refund amount and expected refund delivery date to TurboTax, often referred to as the refund settlement date or the date you would have received the refund had you received it directly from the IRS. A common reason why customers don’t receive their refund up to 5 days early is that  the IRS didn't communicate your refund amount and timing to TurboTax , impacting our ability to provide the Up to 5 Days Early service. Customers who don't receive their refund up to 5 days early will receive their refund on the date they would have received it had it been sent to them directly from the IRS. The Up to 5 days Early service doesn't delay the delivery of the refund.

Other reasons you may not have received your refund up to 5 days early include:

If we were unable to successfully deliver your refund early, you were not charged for the Up to 5 Days Early service and your refund will be deposited in your bank account by the date you would have received the refund had you received it directly from the IRS.

Why is TurboTax is holding onto my refund?

The date the IRS delivers funds to a customer's bank account is often called the refund settlement date. A “settlement date” is the day when money is transferred from the treasury into the tax filer’s bank account. Intuit doesn't have access to a customer's tax refund before the settlement date. Once the IRS approves a customer’s refund, TurboTax is notified, typically 5 days before the refund is scheduled to arrive. When we receive this notification, we attempt to transfer the amount the IRS indicated to the customer’s bank account. Then, when the IRS sends the refund, TurboTax receives that money and effectively pays itself back for the money it sent to customers up to 5 Days Early. If TurboTax is unable to deliver a refund up to five days early, it does not hold on to the money because it never had early access to the refund.

My bank allows RTP and same day ACH, why haven’t I received it?

Our Up to 5 Days Early offer is subject to the IRS communicating your refund amount and expected refund delivery date to TurboTax, often referred to as the refund settlement date. Unfortunately, if TurboTax didn't receive your refund information from the IRS in time, we are unable to provide early access to your refund amount using Real Time Payment (RTP) or Same Day ACH. 

If we were unable to successfully deliver your refund early, you won't be charged for the Up to 5 Days Early service.

What happens to my refund if TurboTax is unable to deliver it via direct deposit?

If TurboTax is unable to deliver your refund via direct deposit, we will send you a check, issued by Intuit, for the full amount of your refund, minus any fees. The check will be mailed to the address on your federal tax return.

1 - Up to 5 Days Early to Your Bank Account: Personal taxes only. Your federal tax refund will be deposited to your selected bank account up to 5 days before the refund settlement date provided by the IRS (the date your refund would have arrived if sent from the IRS directly). The receipt of your refund up to 5 Days Early is subject to IRS submitting refund information to us at least 5 days before the refund settlement date. IRS does not always provide refund settlement information 5 days early. You will not be eligible to receive your refund up to 5 Days Early if (1) you take a Refund Advance loan, (2) IRS delays payment of your refund, or (3) your bank’s policies do not allow for same-day payment processing. Up to 5 Days Early fee will be deducted directly from your refund prior to being deposited to your bank account if you chose the Pay with your Refund option. If your refund cannot be delivered at least 1 day early, you will not be charged the Up to 5 Days Early fee. Up to 5 Days Early program may change or be discontinued at any time.

Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.  For more information about Intuit Payments' money transmission licenses, please visit https://www.intuit.com/legal/licenses/payment-licenses/.

2 - Up to 5 Days Early Guarantee: If your federal refund is not deposited into your selected bank account at least 1 day before the IRS refund settlement date (the date it would have arrived if sent from the IRS directly), then you will not pay the Up to 5 Days Early fee. See Terms of Service for more details.

3 - Credit Karma Money up to 5 days early: If you choose to pay your tax preparation fee with TurboTax using your federal tax refund or if you choose to take the Refund Advance loan, you will not be eligible to receive your refund up to 5 days early. 5-day early program may change or discontinue at any time. Up to 5 days early access to your federal tax refund is compared to standard tax refund electronic deposit and is dependent on and subject to IRS submitting refund information to the bank before release date. IRS may not submit refund information early.

4 - Credit Karma Money Spend (checking): Credit Karma is not a bank. Banking services for Credit Karma Money accounts provided by MVB Bank, Inc., Member FDIC. Maximum balance and transfer limits apply.